Fulham at Tottenham

Fulham gets back into action after the international break with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday. The match kicks off at 3pm EDT on USA.

I will probably eat my words Monday night, but when I think of Tottenham one word comes to mind - overrated. People are going gaga over Postecoglou and his undefeated Spurs, but I'm not impressed. Of the six wins they have, four of them are against the bottom four teams in the league - and the win against bottom of the table Sheffield came only after two injury time goals. Then there was the debacle against Liverpool. The only way they managed to beat Liverpool was by having a TWO man advantage, having one of Liverpool's goals chalked off due to one of the worst officiating mistakes ever, and finally getting the winner in injury time from an own goal. So take away all that and what are you left with? A 2-0 win at home against Manchester United that included another own goal and a 2-2 draw at Arsenal that they take pride in. Hey, you know the other team that got a 2-2 draw at Arsenal this season? But Fulham did it with 10 men.

Fulham will have a number of injury concerns to deal with. Tete is still out so Castagne will have to take on Son. Diop is also out so Fulham will likely have two left footed CB's with Bassey and Ream since it seems like Tosin has decided he's too good for Fulham. Tottenham will be without Bissouma as he serves a red card suspension and we won't get to see Solomon or Sessegnon since they are both out with injuries.

Fulham is the only team to have defeated Spurs this season in the Carabao Cup and I won't be surprised if they do it again. However, the right side of the defense will need to be strong and Palhinha will need to boss the midfield. Tottenham has scored exactly two goals in six of their eight matches. So, if Fulham can score three like last week they win.

 

Great preview, and I agree. I always see Spurs and think "how?" Off to a a great start on points, but luck has had everything to do with it. When does luck run out though? Unfortunately, I don't think it's today and I think we'll be lucky to see a point out of this one. I don't see Spurs winning the league, but Fulham has yet to put together that dominating performance to have confidence in this one. for me. COYW

 

Are we taking bets on whether we'll ever wear the pink kit?

 

Pink kit on Boxing Day.
Conceding only 2 goals...that were gifted to them by Bassey's right foot, wasn't too shabby at White Hart Hotspur MegaStadium. And to their credit, Fulham did manage to control the match on a handful of occasions...but that was about it. A handful. Can't expect much more against a club at the top of the table... which makes Fulham's continued inability to finish all the more painful. Match should've been much closer, or perhaps even.

Jimenez must be a hot mess between the ears because, other than a tap in on the goal line, an opportunity to score won't come much easier for him this season. And otherwise, (insert name here- DeCordova Reid, Willian, etc.) didn't convert a chance or passed when shooting was better and vice versa. There's nobody who looks like a constant threat to score, near misses, forcing more than one good save per match is too much to ask at the moment. Attack is a hot mess. Iwobi may be an answer but he's not at the present time.

A bit frustrated as a supporter because it didn't have to be this way in attack. Hope the board makes up for it in January with a center forward....and somehow keeps Paulinha...and resigns Silva...(and we're going to win in Massachusets, and North Carolina and Missouri...)
COYW

 

Tottenham were clearly the better team out there, but as @nevzter said it was really Fulham's mistakes that made the difference and that's a shame. I was only able to follow the stats during the match and up to the 30th minute Fulham had a lot of value for their 30% possession - more shots and shots on target. But then around that 30th minute it seemed that Tottenham turned things up. They suddenly generated a lot more shots and then finally got their break from one of three really poor passes from Bassey.

But you can't win if you don't score and Fulham should have put at least one on the board. Instead they came away with another goose egg - the fourth time this season.

On the plus side, Fulham are still even with where they were last season.

The highlights:

 

After reflecting about this game further I realized it was awfully similar to how Tottenham beat Fulham early last season as well. In that game right fullback Mbabu had to replace left fullback Robinson. Mbabu's discomfort with being on the opposite side of his normal position led directly to one goal and contributed to another. Then yesterday Bassey was pushed way out to the right, the opposite of his more comfortable left side, and was forced to pass with his non-dominant right foot. That led directly to two goals. These guys need to understand that sometimes when you are in a weak position you just need to hoof it. Also, I question the wisdom of intentionally placing Bassey so far out on the right when starting to play up from the back.

 

I never realized how small the distinction between resigns and re-signs is until reading this.